Merlin and Vortimer turned around at the sudden sound of opening the door. Arthur walked inside and stopped in mid-step as they stared at him in blank amazement. Both of them, for a few seconds, were out of words, and during that time the king managed to recognise Vortimer in disguise, which only confirmed his earlier fears. Arthur glanced from the warlock to the blonde man, but his look lingered on the latter as he couldn't stand the sight of his friend at that moment. His eyes welled up and he felt like pain gripped his heart. He held back tears and the expression on his face hardened.
"You," Arthur gasped. "I knew it was you," he drew the sword and aimed it towards Vortimer.
"Arthur," Merlin spoke calmly; "Let us explain. This is not what you think."
"And what is it exactly that I'm thinking?" he asked with his eyes still focused on Vortimer who was slowly backing away as Arthur was getting his blade closer to him. "Now, Merlin, you will wait for me in my chambers while I deal with him," he said, not looking at his friend.
"But, Arthur...," the warlock started and was about to stand between them.
"I said go," the king said sternly, cutting him off.
Before Merlin left the room, Arthur ordered him to call the guards. When they took Vortimer away the warlock headed to the palace straight to Gaius' chambers. He slammed the door behind him and slumped down grabbing his head.
"Merlin," Gaius said with concern; "what happened?"
The warlock looked up at him and sighed, stressed about the upcoming conversation with Arthur. He was certain that they lost him in the crowd, however, it was predictable that sooner or later the king would find out about Vortimer.
"Arthur knows," he replied quietly.
"Wha-, about Vortimer?" the physician sat down in the chair across from him. The warlock nodded.
"Arthur threw him into the dungeon. I dread to think what he's going to do to me. And don't tell me 'I told you so'."
"Oh, Merlin," Gaius sighed. "I won't. Now you've got a lesson."
"I will try to sort it out, but I've broken his trust for good. I popped in just to tell you this, you know," Merlin said with sadness. "I have to go," he got up and stood in the doorway.
"I wish I could help you."
"When I'm in the dungeon, maybe," the warlock smiled dryly. "But at the moment it is a matter between me and Arthur."
"Everything will be fine," said Gaius after a beat.
Merlin glanced at him before leaving and went to Arthur's room. He slipped inside but the king didn't return yet. As he walked towards the desk he looked around as if it were meant to be the last time he was seeing these chambers and even the very walls of this castle. There was a dead silence in the palace, only the shouts of the crowd gathered at the tournament could be heard from outside the window, and if Merlin hadn't misheard it, people chanted Gwaine's name. He took a seat and started fidgeting fingers. Nothing had been said yet, and he already felt like he was waiting to be beheaded. After a few moments the sound of footsteps carried up the corridor and when the door to the chamber opened Merlin sprang to his feet. Arthur closed the door and stood on the other side of the room in front of Merlin with folded arms.
"I considered you a friend," Arthur said softly, there was clearly pain in his voice.
"We are friends," guilt consumed Merlin from within as he looked at the king's face.
"Friends don't lie," he replied bitterly.
The warlock looked down but after a beat he regained confidence and met Arthur's gaze again.
"You got it all wrong, Arthur. You burst into the room and immediately assumed treason without letting us say a word," he slightly raised his voice.
"You're allowed to speak right now."
"Well, with Vortimer in the cell not able to defend himself?"
"Oh, excuse me, what was I supposed to do with him? Throw him a welcome party?! He's an enemy," the king exclaimed. His voice echoed off the walls. "Besides, it's not about him, it's about you," he added in a softer tone.
"And what are you going to do to me? Merlin asked. "Put me in stocks? Will you order me to be hanged or burned at the stake?"
"Merlin, please, stop," Arthur shook his head.
"I'm sorry..."
"Sorry for what? Being a traitor?" the king cut him off and Merlin had enough. Will he ever get a chance to explain everything?
"I am not a traitor, Arthur, I would never betray you! Why can't you just be quiet at least for a second?!"
"Stop shouting at me, I am your king!" Arthur's despair turned to anger.
"I'm not shouting, you're shouting."
"For god's sake," Arthur spinned around to grab a cup standing behind him on the table and threw it at Merlin.
The warlock in the blink of an eye pushed an object flying towards him, which bounced with a clatter against the wall just above Arthur's head. The king flinched as he thought the cup was going to hit him and then looked at Merlin who was always in the habit of dodging when Arthur threw something at him.
"I didn't mean to," said Merlin feeling bad for what just happened.
Arthur sighed, closing his eyes and sat on his bed. He knew that it had gone too far. "I love you, I don't know why you are doing this to me," he said quietly after a moment.
"You what?" the warlock frowned and took a step closer thinking he had misheard.
The king looked at him with glistening eyes. "You know, as a friend..., brother that I've never had."
Merlin felt like he was hit with a log splitter. The weight of these few words fell on him so suddenly that he had to sit down. The bond between him and Arthur was strong, but he would never have thought that the king cared so much about him to the point that Arthur called him his brother. Silence was a sign for Merlin to explain to his friend everything, but before he did this he had to figure out where to start.
"Disguising as knights of Camelot was part of Vortimer's plan," the warlock spoke, making Arthur look at him. "He wanted to meet with me or with you to warn us and tell us about the white dragon. Vortigern ordered to catch Aithusa and imprison her because he was afraid that if you got to her first, you would use her against him," he took a breath. "I went to that cave and ran into Vortimer who later helped me take the dragon to Camelot. He wished to stay here. I trust him, Arthur, he's not an enemy."
"How could you trust a man who told you a simple story he could just make up?" asked the king.
"This man took up the life of a peasant and works in the tavern every day cleaning the mess drunk people make. I don't think that any prince or a royal would do such a thing for the sake of spying on us, he would make someone else do it," Merlin said. "He can tell you everything and explain it better than me. He's a good man, you'll see it if you only give him a chance."
"I was going to talk to him anyway, but not until Torin leaves Camelot."
"Arthur," Merlin sighed. "I'm sorry. I care about you as much as you care about me. I know I promised you that I would tell you everything, but I failed because of my own stupidity," he looked away. "I'm an idiot."
"Yeah," Arthur agreed. "You're a prat," he murmured.
The warlock eyed him and it didn't take long for them to burst out laughing.
"Yeah, you're right," Merlin nodded and his smile faded as sadness appeared again on Arthur's face. "Please, cheer up, you make my eyes teary," he said and hesitantly pulled him into a hug. The king hugged him back.
"Will you forgive me?" the warlock asked hopefully. "Or should I ask, will you trust me again?"
"I've already forgiven you," Arthur replied. "Trust..., I could've thrown you into the dungeon, but I didn't. Instead, I told you to come here. I was angry, that's all. Angry that you keep hiding from me almost everything."
Merlin pulled away and looked at Arthur. "I know, I thought I would protect you in some way by doing it, but it always turned out to be the worst idea. I was also torn apart between you and Vortimer. He became a friend to me during this time and I struggled to choose between loyalty to you and loyalty to him. He was afraid you would banish him if you found out."
"And you chose him," the king stated.
"Arthur..."
"No, Merlin, I'm glad," he cut him off and Merlin gave him a questioning look. "I'm glad you chose someone else than me. You can't always sacrifice the others and relationships with them by putting me before everyone else."
"But that's what friends should do."
"Yes, but he is your friend too. Let's see if he's worth it," said Arthur.
***
The next day Arthur and Guinevere bid farewell to king Torin and his men. Before their leaving, princess Ragnell spent a lot of time with the tournament winner, Gwaine, and with each more second spent together it was more difficult for the woman to say goodbye to the knight who during her short stay here managed to capture her heart. And it seemed that she also had done the same with him, as if someone had cast a spell on them.
Arthur still had the problem of Vortimer on his mind. He didn't want to make it official so he decided to speak with him just in presence of Merlin and guards, therefore he and the warlock went down into the dungeons just right after Airgialla's army left. They found Vortimer sleeping on the ground with his face down, as there was no bunk in his cell. As they walked to the bars the king rapped on it to wake his enemy, who shuddered at this sound. The blonde man took a moment to get up from the hard and uncomfortable floor and looked at Arthur and Merlin rubbing his eyes.
"Slept well?" the king asked.
Vortimer yawned and shot Merlin a quick glance in search of some reassurance before fixing his eyes again on Arthur. "Just make it quick," he said and walked to bars which he gripped tightly; "and as least painful as possible."
"What?" Arthur frowned, not sure what the man meant.
"My death," he replied simply.
The king sighed. "No one's gonna die tonight," he said and opened the lattice door allowing Vortimer to leave.
"Am I free?" he asked hesitantly.
"Not at all. We are going to talk."
Accompanied by guards, they went to the council chamber where Vortimer was brought before Arthur, who sat down in his seat, and Merlin, who stood at the king's side. Now Vortimer felt like he was on a trial, and it was in some way, but he knew in advance what the sentence would be.
"So, Vortimer," Arthur began. "Merlin told me about you helping to save Aithusa, but he missed the part about your purpose here saying that you should explain it to me."
"I hope I didn't get him into trouble," Vortimer said quietly, glancing from the king to the warlock.
"We're good," Arthur replied, looking briefly at Merlin.
The blonde man nodded. "Saxons are brutal men," he started. "The kingdom of Kent is in ruin because of this and my father's inept rule. I played a role for long enough just only for my father not to notice. But now it ends," he paused.
"And what is it that you came here for?"
"I'm on your side, Arthur, because I believe in the same values as you do," Vortimer said honestly.
"You want to fight by my side?" the king frowned, surprised and confused at the same time by the man's confession.
"Camlann left a mark somewhere in me... It was terrible...," he shook his head. "I only wish to live here in peace. Maybe one day with a lovely wife," he smiled slightly. "To live a life that I chose, not the one someone chose for me."
"I know exactly how it feels," Arthur remembered all the moments when his father wanted to dictate his life in his own way, not allowing him to even say a word in that matter.
"And yes, you can call me a coward, because that's what it looks like, isn't it? Prince who is scared of war, running from his kingdom," Vortimer looked down, ashamed of himself.
"If you would be a coward you wouldn't have come here, you risked a lot just to have a better life," said the king making the blonde man look at him again. "There's nothing wrong with it. I understand."
"Thank you, Arthur," Vortimer replied and the silence fell between them, but suddenly something occurred to him and he felt like he was bathed in cold sweat. "There's something more," he said after a moment and the both of them, Arthur and Merlin, looked at him curiously.
"What is it?" this time the warlock spoke.
"It is said that my father raids villages across the lands, someone suspects he may even attack Camelot."
"Who told you this?" asked Arthur
"I cannot tell. I don't want to put them at risk," Vortimer answered.
The king nodded but Merlin felt like something wasn't right. He stared at him with narrowed eyes.
"I knew that he pursues Morgana's plan but what a coward he is to do so like that," said Arthur and made his way to leave.
"He gave himself the right to do it, an excuse," Vortimer's voice stopped him; "because you killed Maleagant who was his ally."
The king looked away and thought for a moment. "Right, you may go for now," he turned to him; "but you cannot leave Camelot. I'll inform Leon."
Arthur walked out of the council chamber slightly unsure of the truth of Vortimer's words, but no matter what, he had to share this information with the others. The blonde man left just right after the king and turned into the corridor that led to the exit when Merlin stopped him.
"Hey, you seemed very nervous back there," he said.
Vortimer turned to him "Yeah, because I should've told you that earlier, but I forgot because of the tournament and then we got caught," he explained.
"Well, I don't believe you," Merlin got closer to him. "It's not this, isn't it? Who told you about it?"
Vortimer didn't say anything and tried to avoid the warlock's gaze.
"Please, if you're on our side and want to help us," Merlin looked at him hopefully.
"Mordred," he replied.
"Mordred?" the warlock said with disbelief.
Vortimer sighed. "I know what you think, but he found me while I was helping Gaius with herbs. He never returned to Kent, he wandered through the lands."
"How do you know he's not lying?"
"I just know. He wouldn't lie to me," said Vortimer. "It's not him you and Arthur should fear, it's the Saxons."
***
The wind tugged at the green banners as King Torin's men travelled along the edge, high up on the cliff. They were about an hour from Camelot and soon to be boarding the boats that would carry them back to the Western Isle across the Great Seas of Meredoc. At some point they noticed that below, in the plain, there were black dots in the distance, more and more as time passed. As the knights travelled a few more miles, King Torin raised his hand to signal that everyone was to stop.
"What is it, father?" asked princess Ragnell as Torin dismounted his horse and walked closer to the edge. He crouched when some of his men joined him.
Torin narrowed his eyes, recognising black dots as people. "Saxons," he murmured. He looked in the direction where Vortigern's army was heading. Far above the trees loomed the turrets of Camelot Castle. "Turn around horses!" he ordered and went back to his stallion.
They moved far from the cliff edge so that Vortigern's men would not see them. The king looked at his people seeking someone.
"Where's Angus?" he asked with a raised voice.
"I'm here, sire!" someone shouted from the crowd and after a moment a small boy ran up to him.
"Ride to Camelot immediately, we have to warn Arthur," said Torin.
"I'm going with him," Ragnell stated. She wanted so badly to return to Gwaine, especially when Camelot was in danger.
"Out of the question, it's too dangerous," he replied, dismissing her and then turned to Angus again. "Follow the shortcut. Tell king Arthur that Vortigern's army is heading towards his kingdom."
"Yes, sire," Angus said and rushed to his horse and after a while he set off for Camelot.
"We will make camp here and wait for them to pass," Torin stated. "We'll see what we can do to help."